Jihadists occupy civilian homes as Mosul battle rages

After jihadists turned the roof of his house into a sniper position, Owayid Mohammed and his family fled west Mosul in an escape that made him feel “reborn”. Iraqi forces have since retaken all but a handful of areas around Mosul’s Old City, but the jihadists are fighting in densely populated areas, and have used civilians as human shields at various points in the battle. The United Nations warned last week that up to 200,000 civilians may still be trapped in IS-held areas, facing shortages of food, water and medicine as well as deadly danger from the battle for the city.